


The shortest, saddest story ever told

by aurora_denian



Series: When you're not looking [2]
Category: Captain America - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Bittersweet, Dark Past, F/M, Hopeful Ending, Mutilation, Sisters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-06
Updated: 2014-12-06
Packaged: 2018-02-27 03:18:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2677043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aurora_denian/pseuds/aurora_denian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Darcy remembers reading Hemingway in high school, remembers her teacher raving about the brilliance of a one sentence story.  It wasn't brilliant though.  It was heart wrenching.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The shortest, saddest story ever told

**Author's Note:**

> Trigger warning: this deals with past mutilation. I keep it vague for narrative sake but a lot is implied. If this disturbs you do not read this.

Darcy hadn't meant to find it. Hadn't been snooping or anything. Natasha had asked her to grab a box from the closet, just odds and ends she'd been meaning to go through since she'd moves to the tower years before. Darcy didn't even know where it had fallen from, just felt the ghosting of fabric against her hand and when she'd looked it was laying on the floor. It was tiny, and worn, frayed in a way that only happened from years of well loved care. 

Darcy set aside the box, bending to pick it up. She'd seen one like it before, tucked away in Nana's hope chest. Time had faded the once cream fabric, the lace around the collar torn just a bit, but mostly still there. "Sestrenka."

Darcy froze, wanting to hide it behind her back. "I...it fell." Her voice was stained, thick with guilt.

She expected Natasha to be mad but all she saw was a deep sadness in her usually clear eyes. Natasha crouched down in front of her, hand reached out. When Darcy handed it over her hands shook for just a second. She watched as the other woman caressed the fabric almost reverently. "The Red Room took a great many things from me, sestrenka, this you already know." Her eyes turned to chips of ice as her lips thinned. "The worst was hope."

"You had a baby." Darcy kept her voice soft and unassuming, a trick she's now glad she learned from Coulson.

Natasha shook her head. "No." That single word spoke of what ifs and could have beens. "I thought.... It does not matter what I thought."

"Do you want to talk about it? " A small smile ghosted across Natasha's now pale lips. "You don't have to. Just you know, if you want to."

Natasha swallows thickly. "When I wed Alexi I was no blushing virgin. I was, however, very naive in many respects. I thought I was pregnant. I had heard talk, that when your menses weren't occurring that meant you were pregnant. I bought this, tucked it away as a surprise." Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the fabric. "No one ever told me the bleeding was supposed to start before the sex. I thought it happened because of the sex. I thought, after Alexi was taken from me that I would gave a reminder of him."

Darcy lay a hand on her wrist to bring her back to the present, her eyes snapping to instant clarity. "My handler called me a stupid little girl. Told me that they had harvested the 'useful' parts when I'd first started to show signs of puberty." Heaving a breath she finally looked at Darcy. "They harvested my eggs when I was eleven years old and then filled me full of. chemicals. They took away my hope before I. even realized I wanted it."

Darcy didn't, couldn't speak, her throat dry and her eyes burning. She knew the horrors that Red Room had inflicted on its assets, had read over them again and again, but to hear one of its victims talk about it hurt. That it was Natasha ached even more.

"Have you ever told anyone this? " Natasha shook her head, eyes glassy as she looked ahead. "You could talk to me. If you wanted to. I can't relate but I can listen."

"Before I came here I'd given up on those foolish thoughts. My time as an Avenger has. forced me to...contemplate a great few things." She spoke softly, eyes fixes ahead but to Darcy i t felt like she was looking through her. "I would like it greatly if you would not tell Bruce of what we discussed. He worries far too much."

Darcy nodded, trying her best to smile. comforting. "Alright." She didn't elaborate, didn't say that she thought Natasha should be the one to tell him, that their future might depend on that one truth. Instead she pulled the other woman into a hug, petting her hair while her shoulders shook. 

"You're supposed to meet James soon." Natasha didn't lift her head from Darcy's shoulder as she spoke, just played idly with the loose strains of hair that fell in front of her face. 

"I can be a little late." Natasha just nodded, letting Darcy rearrange her til her head was pillowed against Darcy's thigh.

"Thank you, little sestrenka." Natasha's eyes slowly closed, her breathing slowly evening out.

"It's what I'm here for." Darcy smiled down at her, fingers slowly carding through her hair.

Natasha had long since fallen asleep when Darcy saw the shadow in the doorway. Glancing up she could barely make out Bruce's shadow in the door. "I see she finally told someone." Darcy's frown brought a self deprecating smile to Bruce's face. "I've been her doctor longer then her lover. I know how to read between the lines."

"She said she doesn't want you to worry." Darcy shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. It is what Natasha had said after all.

Bruce gave her a look she was more familiar seeing aimed at Tony. "We both know what Natasha says and what she means are sometimes worlds apart. She thinks I'll leave her. If I knew."

Darcy looked down at the sleeping woman in her lap, a woman who called her sister, and felt a little bit of anger well up on her behalf. Darcy's role as secret keeper meant she knew more about them than they sometimes knew themselves and she wasn't above using that to her advantage. "Maybe you should enlighten her about the side effects of gamma radiation on male reproduction."

"I think I will. For the sake of honesty. I'm not with her for that. I think it's time I finally explained that. Thank you Darcy." He walked closer, knelling down to brush Natasha's hair from her face. She stirred just slightly but didn't wake up. Bruce smiled just slightly as he untangled her limbs, deftly pulling her into his arms.

"Welcome." she whispered, slowly rising from the floor. "I'll see myself out. James is waiting in the kitchen."

She left without a backwards glance. What ever happened between them was their own business, she wasn't going to impede on that. If Natasha felt like telling her later, she would. If not, well, like she said it wasn't any of her business. She just hoped that what ever did happen Natasha got to be happy. She deserved it after everything that she had been through, and Darcy thought that Bruce could be the one to give it to her.

James was sitting at the table when she finally made it there, cup of coffee slowly steaming as he stared off into space. She made sure to make a small noise as she walked through the door before coming up to wrap her arms around his neck. "Hi, handsome." Darcy buried her head in his neck as she spoke, gently breathing in his scent. James hummed, his prosthetic hand coming up to caress her arm. She held him tight for a moment before slipping around and settling in his lap. Taking the mug from his hand she entwined their fingers together. "Would you still love me if we couldn't have a family together."

"Darcy." When she refused to look up he pressed at her chin. "You are my family. If you are talking about children, well, there are a lot more ways to have them today then there used to be." Kissing her forehead he pulled her close. "I would love nothing more than to have a little girl that has your eyes and your heart. But, I'm not going to leave you if that is something we can't have together. I love you for you, not for the what if's in life."

Smiling just slightly Darcy pulled him into a lingering kiss. "I love you too." Hugging each other close they sat there in silence, neither noticing the passage of time, but the breath of the other warming each others skin.

James suddenly pulled back, a predatory smile gleaming on his lips. "That doesn't mean we can't have fun practicing." Darcy let out a squeal of laughter as he hoisted her up over his shoulder and took off towards the bedroom. Oh, she was all for practicing.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

The next time Darcy saw that gown she'd almost forgotten about its existence. Tucked between laying of satiny tissue paper it stared up at her, bringing tears to Darcy's eyes. "I thought you might like it, sestrenka." Darcy found herself laughing through the tears that streamed down her face, pulling Natasha into a bone crushing hug.

"Thank you." Darcy breathed out, the gown still clutched to her chest.

Pulling back Natasha merely smiled. "You are very much welcome, Darcy." Not saying another word she glided through the small cluster of friends that were scattered around the living room of the tower. 

Looking down at the small piece of fabric Darcy lay a hand against her stomach. "She is going to spoil you rotten."


End file.
